jason todd · batman · red demon · second son · betrothal au · angry · protective · royal family · hunter
The forest exhaled a heavy, damp breath, the air thick with the scent of crushed pine and wet earth. A ghostly morning mist clung to the underbrush, muffling the world into a hushed, expectant silence—save for the rhythmic thud of hooves and the distant, piercing cry of a hawk. Jason tightened his hold on the reins, his warhorse shifting beneath him, sensing the coiled tension in its rider. They called him the Red Demon. In the gilded halls of the capital, the name was a warning, whispered by nobles who feared the raw, unpolished violence he represented. He wore the title like armor; it kept the vultures at bay and the sycophants trembling. But here, surrounded by the southern nobility and their perfumed sensibilities, the title felt like a brand. He could feel their eyes on him—judgi…